Pardoning Corrupt Sheriff, Trump Undermines Democracy Again
During the last week of May, President Donald Trump pardoned Scott Jenkins, who had been the sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia for 12 years, before being convicted on charges of federal bribery and fraud in March. Posting on Truth Social, Trump portrayed his action as a righteous correction for another “victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice.”
Jenkins, he declared, “is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters’ and ‘left for dead.’”
In reality, Jenkins’s pardon was another move by the Trump administration to reward political loyalty and give his blessing to elected officials who profit at the expense of public trust. As such, it represents another anti-democratic Trump scheme to use the power of the presidency not for the greater good but for political and ideological gain.
Jenkins was facing 10 years in prison for accepting over $75,000 in bribes in exchange for “auxiliary deputy” badges, a designation permitted under Virginia law that allows qualified people to receive official firearms, body armor, and a badge that reads “deputy sheriff.” Jenkins abused his authority by accepting unqualified people who were not county residents and wanted those badges to skirt gun regulations. According to prosecutors, the sheriff recruited men who hoped to “drive fast, flash their badges to evade traffic tickets and carry concealed guns without permits.”
Jenkins’s pardon was another move by the Trump administration to reward political loyalty and give his blessing to elected officials who profit at the expense of public trust
This was the first pardon led by Ed Martin, a “Stop the Steal” booster and right-wing podcaster. Martin now works in the Justice Department’s Office of Pardons and leads the laughable “Weaponization Working Group,” which appears focused on recasting the prosecutions under Biden’s DOJ as illegitimate political lawfare. Trump had previously nominated Martin to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia but Martin was too controversial for both parties in Congress.
Martin proudly celebrated Jenkins’ pardon by posting on X, “No MAGA left behind.” (Another Jenkins supporter is Michael Flynn, the election-denying former Trump national security advisor who called the sheriff “completely railroaded.”)
Trump has now pardoned several people accused of corruption, bribery, and financial crimes. The same day he pardoned Jenkins, he also pardoned the reality television stars Julie and Todd Chrisley who had both been in federal prison for financial fraud and tax evasion. A recent review by House Judiciary Democrats had found that Trump’s pardons had forfeited $1.3 billion in restitution and payments to victims.
But Jenkins is also another style of individual that Trump loves — a loyal sheriff.
Early in his first term, Trump infamously pardoned Joe Arpaio, the notorious long-time sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, who was facing jail time for his failure to comply with a court order. Arpaio, who was ousted by voters in 2016, was found guilty of racial profiling as part of his zealous and dogged pursuit of Latinos to arrest and deport. (Arpaio, who was recently embraced by Trump’s Deportation Czar Tom Homan in Phoenix, represents the dreadful precursor to Trump’s “mass deportation” efforts.)
But Jenkins is also another style of individual that Trump loves — a loyal sheriff.
In comparison, Jenkins’ crimes were somewhat cartoonish. A long-time friend of Jenkins and recipient of a deputy badge, Kevin Rychlik, acted as an FBI informant and arranged a meeting with two undercover agents, posing as interested local businessmen. At trial, prosecutors presented a video of the interaction in which Jenkins took an envelope full of cash.
Jenkins presented “auxiliary deputy” badges to a range of people, from a local businessman to John Guandolo, a disgraced former federal agent who travels the country presenting anti-Muslim “training sessions” to law enforcement. (In 2022, Guandolo was found with an assault rifle that belonged to Culpeper County; he was also an auxiliary deputy despite not living there.)
In one case, Jenkins pushed for a donor to have his firearms rights restored. According to NBC, “[other bribe payors] used the badges in attempts to get a COVID test, drive in highway emergency lanes or get around a TSA line.” Another intended to skirt concealed weapons laws. None of them were trained or vetted; nor did they ever volunteer their services to the county.
Jenkins had argued since his indictment that the prosecution was politically motivated. In fact, over the course of his tenure as sheriff, Jenkins had engaged in a series of missteps. He was well-known as a firm supporter of the Second Amendment, going so far as to argue in 2019 that he would “deputize” every resident in his county to evade proposed state gun laws. (His campaign website described him as “a recognized thought leader in the areas of Second Amendment rights, secure communities, constitutional government and law enforcement.”) He was also an admitted member of the “constitutional sheriff” movement and promoted nativist and anti-democratic propaganda. He engaged in nepotism, hiring his brothers in the department.
Even as Jenkins faced a criminal trial, he continued his run for sheriff — his slogan was “Make Virginia Great Again” — losing to a moderate candidate who promised good governance. Just like with the pardon of Arpaio, Trump’s pardon of Jenkins reflects a disdain for the democratic will of the people, who not only voted Jenkins out of office, but have said that they oppose the pardon, according to interviews conducted by NPR. Even the Republican Attorney General for Virginia, Jason Miyares, opposed the pardon.
Now Jenkins will walk with an unblemished record, all of his prior crimes wiped away, leaving him free to run for office again — if anyone will vote for him.
Jessica Pishko is an independent journalist and lawyer who focuses on how the criminal justice system and law enforcement intersects with political power. As a Democracy Docket contributor, Jessica writes about the criminalization of elections and how sheriffs in particular have become a growing threat to democracy.